Asia

This is just a quick snapshot of my holiday to Hong Kong and a bit of a memoir of my experiences.

Day 1: The Day of Arrival. After dropping off my bags at the hotel, I spent the day wondering around the little lane ways in Wan Chai. This part of the town was less developed than the CBD. I realised that I underestimated the language barrier. The lane ways were covered in small stores and outlets. There was no order to how the shops are situated. For example, there were meat stores shoulder to shoulder with ladies lingerie shops.

Wan Chai, Hong Kong 2017-04-22

Day 2: Less disoriented after a decent night’s sleep. This is when I noticed how ridiculously busy this town is! Seriously, it seems like people are in such a hurry. Aside from when riding the escalators I have not many positive social etiquette from people here. There is no concept of “giving way” to others when walking. I have been impressed with the city’s transport network however. The train network, which is almost identical to London’s underground metro, is efficient and fast. Oh and their Octopus card, which is like the ‘go card’ in Australia, can be used not only for transport but also as an eftpos card in general. I thought this was super cool 😎

Happiness Square, Wan Chai 2017-04-23

Day 3: I visited the Victoria Peak, which is probably one of the top 3 tourists attractions of the city (the other 2 in my opinion are Disneyland & Macau). The highlight of the day was riding the Peak Tram. The tram has been operating since 1988 and has a maximum slope of nearly 45 degrees (48% gradient). Tram ride is a MUST in my opinion.

View from the Peak Tram 2017-04-24

My travel tips for Hong Kong based on my first 3 days here are:

Be prepared to battle the crowd.

Be prepared for a language barrier.

Be prepared for confronting scenes of animals in meat stores (dead & alive), especially if visiting areas outside of the CBD.

Enjoy the efficient transport network.

Eating out is not as cheap as I thought it would be.

Very limited vegan options (at least any that is clearly marked), slightly less limited for vegetarians but an abundance of exotic food to try if you eat meat (snake meat anyone?)

I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe find it useful if you are planning to travel to Hong Kong. Please share your own experience if you’ve travelled to Hong Kong ❤️